Related papers: The derivative map for diffeomorphism of disks: An…

We study families of diffeomorphisms detected by trivalent graphs via the Kontsevich classes. We specify some recent results and constructions of the second named author to show that those non-trivial elements in homotopy groups…

In this paper we study $\mathcal M(X)$, the set of diffeomorphism classes of smooth manifolds with the simple homotopy type of $X$, via a map $\Psi$ from $\mathcal M(X)$ into the quotient of $K(X)=[X,BSO]$ by the action of the group of…

Let $G$ be a compact connected semisimple Lie group with Lie algebra $\mathfrak{g}$. Let $\mathcal{O}\subset\mathfrak{g}^*$ be a coadjoint orbit. The action of $G$ on $\mathcal{O}$ induces a morphism $\rho:G\to \mathrm{Homeo}(\mathcal{O})$.…

For a compact $(2n+1)$-dimensional smooth manifold, let $\mu_M : B Diff_\partial (D^{2n+1}) \to B Diff (M)$ be the map that is defined by extending diffeomorphisms on an embedded disc by the identity. By a classical result of Farrell and…

This paper studies the rational homotopy groups of the group $\mathrm{Diff}(S^4)$ of self-diffeomorphisms of $S^4$ with the $C^\infty$-topology. We present a method to prove that there are many `exotic' non-trivial elements in…

We construct smooth bundles with base and fiber products of two spheres whose total spaces have non-vanishing $\hat{A}$-genus. We then use these bundles to locate non-trivial rational homotopy groups of spaces of Riemannian metrics with…

In this note we describe a family of arguments that link the homotopy-type of a) the diffeomorphism group of the disc $D^n$, b) the space of co-dimension one embedded spheres in a sphere and c) the homotopy-type of the space of co-dimension…

For a homotopy class $[u]$ of maps between a closed Riemannian manifold $M$ and a general manifold $N$, we want to find a Dirac-harmonic map with the map component in the given homotopy class. Most known results require the index to be…

First we survey and explain the strategy of some recent results that construct holomorphic $\text{sl}(2, \mathbb C)$-differential systems over some Riemann surfaces $\Sigma_g$ of genus $g\geq 2$, satisfying the condition that the image of…

Thin homotopies, introduced by Caetano-Picken, serve to axiomatize the holonomy of connections on principal bundles. This approach has been generalized to higher non-abelian bundles with connection through transport functors and higher…

In this paper we study boundedness of bundle diffeomorphism groups over a circle. For a fiber bundle $\pi : M \to S^1$ with fiber $N$ and structure group $\Gamma$ and $r \in {\Bbb Z}_{\geq 0} \cup \{ \infty \}$ we distinguish an integer $k…

We prove that for many degrees in a stable range the homotopy groups of the moduli space of metrics of positive scalar curvature on S^n and on other manifolds are non-trivial. This is achieved by further developing and then applying a…

We classify non-linear proper Fredholm maps between Hilbert spaces, up to proper homotopy, in terms of the stable homotopy groups of spheres. We show that there is a surjective map from the stable homotopy groups of spheres to the set of…

We discuss the dynamics of smooth diffeomorphisms of the disc with vanishing topological entropy which satisfy the mild dissipation property introduced in [CP]. In particular it contains the H\'enon maps with Jacobian up to 1/4. We prove…

Given a singular connection $D$ on a vector bundle $E$ over an irreducible smooth projective curve $X$, defined over an algebraically closed field, we show that there is a unique maximal subsheaf of $E$ on which $D$ induces a nonsingular…

We construct an explicit diffeomorphism taking any fibration of a sphere by great circles into the Hopf fibration, using elementary geometry--indeed the diffeomorphism is a local (differential) invariant, algebraic in derivatives.

If P \to X is a topological principal K-bundle and \hat K a central extension of K by Z, then there is a natural obstruction class \delta_1(P) in \check H^2(X,\uline Z) in sheaf cohomology whose vanishing is equivalent to the existence of a…

Based on Morse theory for the energy functional on path spaces we develop a deformation theory for mapping spaces of spheres into orthogonal groups. This is used to show that these mapping spaces are weakly homotopy equivalent, in a stable…

In this paper we discuss the relationship between groups of diffeomorphisms of spheres and balls. We survey results of a topological nature and then address the relationship as abstract (discrete) groups. We prove that the identity…

Algebraic structure of the group of pseudo-isotopy classes of diffeomorphisms of the trivial disk bundle over the standard sphere which restrict to the identity map on the boundary is determined.